Do Indian laws bind all Indians? Or not?
Some days back, a Delhi Court passed a judgement saying as per Muslim law, a Muslim girl could be married at 15 if she had attained puberty (as against 18 which is the law for 'other' girls in India). As expected, there was a lot of hue and cry about this judgement and articles being written about whether this is right or not?
I was also expectedly shocked by this judgement. It does not make sense at all. When there is a law in India for the legal age for any girl to get married, how can there be another age for a certain Indian girl? Is she different, is she special or not-so-special? It seemed completely outrageous. My first thought was of the court being incorrect in its judgement. But then as I researched this a little more, I realized that the courts are not to be blamed, they are simply following the law. And the law is the one which is currently faulty.
And then I remembered all the articles I had read earlier about the demand for a Uniform Civil Code in India. It had never before been clear to me what is being asked for and what actually exists. And this case makes it clear. And as I researched it slightly further, I realized its not just that there is a separate Muslim law in India, there is a separate Hindu law and a Christian law too!
It just doesn't make sense. Aren't we all Indians? Shouldn't we just have one law governing us all? How does it all work, there are so many loopholes in the current form. What happens in the case of mixed religion marriages, is the husband's religions' law or the wife's religions' laws which supercedes? And what about people who don't follow any religion?
And what about people who convert, what law do they fall under? It just makes it easy to change your religion and be governed by a different set of laws. And then what about Dharmendra, will he be governed by Hindu laws (as he is a practicing Hindu) or Muslim laws (as he converted to Islam to marry Hema Malini). There are just too many gaps here, too many loopholes, and isn't it high time this be plugged?
And as I thought about this further, I did see the problem with this too. One of course if the political will: who will take on an entire religious group to change the law? And second was a more philosophical but real question, how do you get a country where religion is supreme to be governed by laws not set by their 'gods' or holy books but by real people making the law. How will they agree to this shift? Who makes the laws and how correct would they be? Who decides what is right, what isnt, religion or lawmakers? And I can see the difficulty in taking such a big move.
To be fair, I don't have an idea about what the solution is but I do think the current state of affairs is definitely not right. You cannot have different laws for different citizens, they are all equal. And it is easier to avoid such differences by having a similar law for all. It might infringe on religious 'freedom' or some view of this freedom, but its definitely the best way to make everyone equal. And some political party should have the courage to take the step in the right direction.
I was also expectedly shocked by this judgement. It does not make sense at all. When there is a law in India for the legal age for any girl to get married, how can there be another age for a certain Indian girl? Is she different, is she special or not-so-special? It seemed completely outrageous. My first thought was of the court being incorrect in its judgement. But then as I researched this a little more, I realized that the courts are not to be blamed, they are simply following the law. And the law is the one which is currently faulty.
And then I remembered all the articles I had read earlier about the demand for a Uniform Civil Code in India. It had never before been clear to me what is being asked for and what actually exists. And this case makes it clear. And as I researched it slightly further, I realized its not just that there is a separate Muslim law in India, there is a separate Hindu law and a Christian law too!
It just doesn't make sense. Aren't we all Indians? Shouldn't we just have one law governing us all? How does it all work, there are so many loopholes in the current form. What happens in the case of mixed religion marriages, is the husband's religions' law or the wife's religions' laws which supercedes? And what about people who don't follow any religion?
And what about people who convert, what law do they fall under? It just makes it easy to change your religion and be governed by a different set of laws. And then what about Dharmendra, will he be governed by Hindu laws (as he is a practicing Hindu) or Muslim laws (as he converted to Islam to marry Hema Malini). There are just too many gaps here, too many loopholes, and isn't it high time this be plugged?
And as I thought about this further, I did see the problem with this too. One of course if the political will: who will take on an entire religious group to change the law? And second was a more philosophical but real question, how do you get a country where religion is supreme to be governed by laws not set by their 'gods' or holy books but by real people making the law. How will they agree to this shift? Who makes the laws and how correct would they be? Who decides what is right, what isnt, religion or lawmakers? And I can see the difficulty in taking such a big move.
To be fair, I don't have an idea about what the solution is but I do think the current state of affairs is definitely not right. You cannot have different laws for different citizens, they are all equal. And it is easier to avoid such differences by having a similar law for all. It might infringe on religious 'freedom' or some view of this freedom, but its definitely the best way to make everyone equal. And some political party should have the courage to take the step in the right direction.
Comments
Post a Comment